Many seats are empty at the Times Union Center during the Albany Devils and Binghamton Senators hockey game on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Photo: Paul Buckowski

Many seats are empty at the Times Union Center during the Albany...

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Many seats are empty at the Times Union Center during the Albany Devils and Binghamton Senators hockey game on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Photo: Paul Buckowski

Many seats are empty at the Times Union Center during the Albany...

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Many seats are empty at the Times Union Center during the Albany Devils and Binghamton Senators hockey game on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Photo: Paul Buckowski

Many seats are empty at the Times Union Center during the Albany...

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Many seats are empty at the Times Union Center during the Albany Devils and Binghamton Senators hockey game on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Photo: Paul Buckowski

Many seats are empty at the Times Union Center during the Albany...

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Many seats are empty at the Times Union Center during the Albany Devils and Binghamton Senators hockey game on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Photo: Paul Buckowski

Many seats are empty at the Times Union Center during the Albany...

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Ten-year-old Albany Devils fan Jordan Wedenbine of Albany shows off her player-autographed hat before Saturday's game against the Manchester Monarchs at the Times Union Center Jan. 11, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Veteran Albany Devils fans Bob Guzy and Jeanne Carras cheer their team during Saturday's game against the Manchester Monarchs at the Times Union Center, Jan. 11, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Daniella Richardson, at right, of Niskayuna takes a snapshot of daughters Molly, 3, left, and Chelsea, 5 as they pose with Albany Devils' mascot, Devil Dawg, before Saturday's game against the Manchester Monarchs at the Times Union Center, Jan. 11, 2014, in Albany, NY. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Professional sports and the Capital Region have a checkered history. The Albany-Colonie Yankees of minor league baseball and the Albany Firebirds of the Arena Football League brought championships to the area, only to leave with little fanfare and few fans.

Whether the Albany Devils go down that same path comes into question any time they play in a near-empty Times Union Center. The American Hockey League team's current per-game average of 3,018 fans is the lowest in the city's 21-year AHL history.

While that number likely will rise in the season's final two months, when the team traditionally draws its largest crowds, its future in Albany remains uncertain. The AHL is judged to be the second-highest level of hockey in North America, behind only the NHL, but the quality of the game hasn't made the Devils an attraction.

Albany has ranked in the bottom 25 percent of league attendance each of the past 14 seasons.

"If we knew we might lose it, like we lost the Firebirds, maybe more people would come out and support it," said Bob Belber, general manager of Times Union Center. "That's what I'm hoping. I'm hoping that the public understands that they have choices."

The Devils arrived four years ago to replace the River Rats, who relocated to Charlotte, N.C. The Devils have a full season remaining on a five-year lease with Times Union Center, although they have an escape clause after this year. While there have been no spoken or even implied threats of departure, cities desperate for an AHL team could try to lure away the Devils.

Media: Times Union
Attendance has been an issue in many of Albany's 21 seasons as an American Hockey League city. Will fan support dwindle to the point where the Devils look for other places to play? (Pete Dougherty/Times Union)

Those cities include neighboring Glens Falls, whose Phantoms will move to Allentown, Pa., in the fall after a five-year stay in the Civic Center.

The Phantoms' move was planned all along. Glens Falls had accepted a role as a temporary home while an arena in Allentown was built.

Attendance aside, Times Union Center offers the Devils a lot that they might not get elsewhere: an NHL-caliber locker room, close proximity to the parent team in New Jersey and 13 other AHL cities within 200 miles, which saves on travel costs.

"I do," said Ciceri, who arrived with the team from Lowell, Mass., in 2006. "There have been some reports that say it's not, but it takes time."

Even as early this season the Devils enjoyed the most success in their four years in Albany, the team struggled to draw spectators.

Their first home game, on Oct. 12, attracted 3,424 fans, the fewest for a home opener in Albany's 21 AHL seasons. A Columbus Day outing against the Phantoms lured 2,222, the second-lowest ever for an Albany-Adirondack matchup, dating back to when the Rats had a heated rivalry with the Adirondack Red Wings.

The primary goal of the AHL is to prepare players for the NHL, the top level of pro hockey, but at times their development happens in obscurity.

"Sure, it's nice to have fans, a full house and the crowd rocking every night," Devils captain Rod Pelley said, "but it's something you really can't worry about. Our job is to play hockey. With the fan base that we have here in Albany, our job is to play for them. They do a great job of showing up every night and being strong."

The Devils, who have made the playoffs only once in their past 13 AHL seasons, have elevated their performance level.

After three straight losing seasons, they entered this weekend with 24 victories in 46 games for a .522 winning percentage; they currently are in position to make the playoffs.

"I don't know if winning is going to be a driver," Ciceri said. "You have two audiences here that come to games. When we have minus 4 degrees and we have 1,800 people here, they are hockey fans. They want to see you win the 38 (home) games. The other 4,000 people who are coming are coming for the excitement, the entertainment and so forth."

It's the entertainment factor that helped the River Rats draw 10,000 or more fans 12 times in the 1990s, including a sellout of 13,941 on Feb. 18, 1995, against Adirondack.

The Devils, who have been unable to cultivate the Adirondack rivalry with the Phantoms, have had one five-figure crowd: 10,218 for a game last year.

"You've got Union, you've got RPI, you've got Adirondack up north," Ciceri said, "so on any given weekend, you might have 20,000 fans that are going to the different venues. Back in the '90s, maybe this was the only venue in town for people to come and see. Back then, there were the Adirondack Red Wings, and that is a rivalry you would love to have."

Tickets for RPI and Union range between $12 and $15. The Devils' average ticket price is $20.75, which is fourth-lowest in the AHL.

"College hockey has a very different audience as opposed to minor pro hockey," said Lars Allanson, a Delmar resident who has had a season ticket since the first game of the River Rats. "AHL hockey is the level of hockey that I enjoy."

"Everything is so diversified nowadays," said Sue Schamerhorn, a season-ticket holder from Catskill since 1996. "There are so many things to do. I'd like to see it come back. Hockey's an exciting game."

The Devils, who had to replace virtually their entire front-office staff over the summer, press on. "I would rather have that," Ciceri said of the mass turnover, "than just hire mediocre people."

There are 12 home dates remaining, half of which fall on Saturdays, when the attendance average (3,967) is 60 percent higher than on other days of the week (2,476). Perhaps for the first time since the River Rats were here in 2010, playoff games may follow.

"Many people will say to me that they wish the Firebirds were still here because it was so fun having 12,000 people in the building every game and the block parties," Belber said. "It was a place where you had to be.

"This is not about money. What this is about is bodies in seats. It's about support from individual people and families and companies that, if they want the team to be here, we need to have them buy the tickets, come and enjoy the games."